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A picture taken on November 14, 2014, shows bookshelves in the renovated National University Library (Bibliotheque Nationale Universitaire or BNU in French) in Strasbourg, eastern France. FREDERICK FLORIN/AFP/Getty Images

Many explanations have been given for the recent decline in e-book sales: lack of investment in new technologies, lack of publisher interest, high prices, Amazon's existence, and the belief that people like the smell of paper. It's likely a combination of some of these, but there's a new argument to add to the mix: the rise of the "shelfie."

A "shelfie," like a "selfie," is an image meant to depict the best and truest version of a person, while remaining highly curated. It is, literally, a photograph of one's bookshelf--or at least the part of it that makes the photographer look well-read and intelligent.